2002 Carolina Panthers season

2002 Carolina Panthers season
Head Coach	John Fox
Home Field	Ericsson Stadium
Results
Record	7–9
Place	4th NFC South
Playoff Finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	DT Kris Jenkins P Todd Sauerbrun
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
2001	2003

The 2002 Carolina Panthers season was the franchise's 8th season in the National Football League and the 1st under head coach John Fox. They tried to improve upon their 1–15 record in 2001, and make it to the playoffs for the second time in franchise history.

The Panthers would improve six games, but they still failed to make the playoffs, despite moving from the NFC West to the more geographically accurate NFC South, finishing 7–9, five games behind the division champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Offseason

Additions	Subtractions
DE Shane Burton (Jets)	WR Donald Hayes (Patriots)
CB Terry Cousin (Dolphins)	FB Chris Hetherington (Rams)
LB Mark Fields (Rams)	DE Jay Williams (Dolphins)

NFL Draft

Main article: 2002 NFL Draft

The 2002 NFL Draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on April 15 and April 16, 2002. The Panthers selected nine players in seven rounds.

NFL Draft

Main article: 2002 NFL Draft

2002 Carolina Panthers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	2	Julius Peppers *	DE	North Carolina
2	34	DeShaun Foster	RB	UCLA
3	73	Will Witherspoon	LB	Georgia
4	100	Dante Wesley	CB	Arkansas-Pine Bluff
5	137	Randy Fasani	QB	Stanford
5	145	Kyle Johnson	FB	Syrscuse
6	174	Keith Heinrich	TE	Sam Houston State
7	213	Pete Campion	G	North Dakota State
7	258	Brad Franklin	CB	Louisiana-Lafayette
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

2002 Carolina Panthers staff
	Front office Owner/Founder – Jerry Richardson President – Mark Richardson General Manager – Marty Hurney Director of Player Personnel – Jack Bushofsky Head coaches Head Coach – John Fox Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams – Scott O'Brien Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks – Dan Henning Running Backs – Jim Skipper Wide Receivers – Richard Williamson Tight Ends – Don Breaux Offensive Line – Paul T Boudreau Offensive Assistant – Mike McCoy			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Jack Del Rio Defensive Line – Mike Trgovac Linebackers – Sam Mills Secondary – Rod Perry Defensive Assistant – Alvin Reynolds Defensive Assistant – Sal Sunseri Special teams coaches Special Teams Assistant – Darrin Simmons Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Jerry Simmons Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Darrin Simmons

Roster

2002 Carolina Panthers roster
	Quarterbacks 12 Randy Fasani  9 Rodney Peete 16 Chris Weinke Running backs 22 Dee Brown 37 Nick Goings 42 Skip Hicks 45 Brad Hoover FB 33 Joe Montgomery 32 Rod Smart Wide receivers 83 Nathan Black 82 Isaac Byrd 88 Karl Hankton 87 Muhsin Muhammad 89 Steve Smith RS Tight ends 49 Shawn Draper 86 Kris Mangum 85 Wesley Walls 84 Jermaine Wiggins		Offensive linemen 65 Kevin Donnalley G 74 Derrick Fletcher G 78 Jeno James G 60 Jeff Mitchell C 63 Jamar Nesbit G 76 Tutan Reyes T 75 Todd Steussie T 73 Melvin Tuten T 66 Louis Williams C Defensive linemen 99 Brentson Buckner DT 98 Shane Burton DT 92 Mario Fatafehi DT 77 Kris Jenkins DT 97 Kemp Rasmussen DE 93 Mike Rucker DE 91 Josh Taves DE 96 Al Wallace DE		Linebackers 52 Brian Allen OLB 58 Mark Fields OLB 50 Brad Jackson MLB 52 Kory Minor OLB 53 Hannibal Navies OLB 54 Will Witherspoon MLB Defensive backs 35 Deke Cooper SS 21 Terry Cousin CB 36 Brad Franklin CB 27 Deon Grant FS 23 Reggie Howard CB 25 Emmanuel McDaniel CB 30 Mike Minter SS 39 Damien Richardson FS 29 Dante Wesley CB Special teams 11 Shayne Graham K 56 Jason Kyle LS 10 Todd Sauerbrun P		Reserve lists 46 Rashard Anderson CB (Susp.) 24 Michael Bates RB (IR) 40 Jarrod Cooper S (IR) 28 Terry Fair CB (IR) 20 DeShaun Foster RB (IR) 94 Sean Gilbert DT (IR) 80 Keith Heinrich TE (IR)  4 John Kasay K (IR) 55 Dan Morgan LB (IR) 90 Julius Peppers DE (Susp.) 71 Fernando Smith DE (IR) 26 Lamar Smith RB (IR)  3 Ryan Tolhurst WR (IR) 57 Lester Towns LB (IR) Practice squad 15 Rob Johnson WR 12 Chris Robinson S 62 Tim Stuber G 18 Bashir Yamini WR Rookies in italics 53 Active, 14 Inactive, 5 Practice squad

Schedule

Date	Week	Opponent	Result	TV Time	TV Commentators	Stadium	Record	Attendance
9/8/2002	1	Baltimore Ravens	W 10–7	CBS 1:00pm	Gus Johnson & Brent Jones	Ericsson Stadium	1–0	70,386
9/15/2002	2	Detroit Lions	W 31–7	FOX 1:00pm	Kenny Albert & Tim Green	Ericsson Stadium	2–0	71,951
9/22/2002	3	at Minnesota Vikings	W 21–14	FOX 1:00pm	Curt Menefee & Tim Ryan	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	3–0	63,945
9/29/2002	4	at Green Bay Packers	L 14–17	FOX 1:00pm	Pat Summerall & Brian Baldinger	Lambeau Field	3–1	63,329
10/6/2002	5	Arizona Cardinals	L 13–16	FOX 1:00pm	Curt Menefee & Tim Ryan	Ericsson Stadium	3–2	72,286
10/13/2002	6	at Dallas Cowboys	L 13–14	FOX 1:00pm	Pat Summerall & Brian Baldinger	Texas Stadium	3–3	61,773
10/20/2002	7	at Atlanta Falcons	L 0–30	FOX 1:00pm	Ron Pitts & Marv Levy	Georgia Dome	3–4	68,056
10/27/2002	8	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 9–12	FOX 1:00pm	Dick Stockton, Troy Aikman & Cris Collinsworth	Ericsson Stadium	3–5	72,892
11/3/2002	9	Bye
11/10/2002	10	New Orleans Saints	L 24–34	FOX 1:00pm	Kenny Albert & Tim Green	Ericsson Stadium	3–6	72,566
11/17/2002	11	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 10–23	FOX 4:05pm	Curt Menefee & Tim Ryan	Raymond James Stadium	3–7	65,527
11/24/2002	12	Atlanta Falcons	L 0–41	FOX 1:00pm	Curt Menefee & Tim Ryan	Ericsson Stadium	3–8	72,533
12/1/2002	13	at Cleveland Browns	W 13–6	FOX 1:00pm	Curt Menefee & Tim Ryan	Cleveland Browns Stadium	4–8	72,718
12/8/2002	14	Cincinnati Bengals	W 52–31	CBS 1:00pm	Bill Macatee & Craig James	Ericsson Stadium	5–8	66,799
12/15/2002	15	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 14–30	FOX 1:00pm	Sam Rosen & Bill Maas	Heinz Field	5–9	58,586
12/22/2002	16	Chicago Bears	W 24–14	FOX 1:00pm	Pat Summerall & Brian Baldinger	Ericsson Stadium	6–9	72,602
12/29/2002	17	at New Orleans Saints	W 10–6	FOX 1:00pm	Sam Rosen & Bill Maas	Louisiana Superdome	7–9	66,946

Standings

NFC South
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
z (2) Tampa Bay Buccaneers	12	4	0	.750	4–2	9–3	346	196	W1
y (6) Atlanta Falcons	9	6	1	.594	4–2	7–5	402	314	L1
New Orleans Saints	9	7	0	.563	3–3	7–5	432	388	L3
Carolina Panthers	7	9	0	.438	1–5	4–8	258	302	W2